Monday, April 30, 2012

Attack On Memory - Cloud Nothings

Attack On Memory

Cloud Nothings

Carpark Records.

SCQ Rating: 81%

Cloud Nothings
aren’t complicated, I keep insisting, but critiquing them on their own merits –
removed from time and influences – somehow is. Only in 2012 could their new
album, a rag-tag collection of adrenaline-fueled indie-rock, feel like a
statement; a rebuttal aimed at our currently vaporous pinnacle of electro-rock
nonsense. It isn’t that Attack On Memory doesn’t care about sounding good – after
all, having Steve Albini on board pretty much negates any real punk sentiment –
but it's Cloud Nothings’ defiance to the day’s tweaked trends that makes these eight
songs so inviting.

Even on its own
terms, Attack On Memory’s ambition gives preference to visceral intensity over
considered musicianship. The extended breakdown and resurrection that lends to
“Wasted Days”’ nine-minute trek sounds almost entirely improvised, spent
mindlessly caterwauling and thrashing about, and it works on the premise that
pretension destroys authenticity. Say what you will about the emo-tinged
heartstrings being pulled on “Fall In” or “Stay Useless”, the two songs forming
the LP’s pop-oriented centerpiece, but they’re honest representations of Cloud
Nothings’ brash approach – tuneful and direct.

The rush of
dissonant energy exuding from any single track on Attack On Memory grabs
whatever dormant teenage brainwaves we’ve held onto and shellshocks them into
submission. Like the last record that jolted me back to my rock-and-roll roots,
The Hold Steady’s Boys and Girls In America, Cloud Nothings’ nihilistic
indifference and sharp riffs provide a needed contrast to the pro-tooled habits
of modern indie-rock.